Rig Tuned!...Or Is It????

[Warren Kaplan]

I tuned my standing rigging a couple of weeks ago using the proper Loos Gauges. The instructions say that is just the beginning and that after sailing, or even during sailing on different tacks, you have to make final adjustments. Well, I didn't do it while sailing, but I did it afterwards. SQN has been "out of action" for about 10 days now (happily that will be over in a day or two) and I have had the chance to check the rig tension 2 or 3 times on different days without sailing the boat in between. This is what I've found. Within a few days of tuning the rig, it has to be tuned all over again. I have gone thru a mile of rigging tape, removing the 3 day old tape, pulling the pins, retensioning to the Loos gauges, putting the pins back in, and retaping. This all without sailing in between. I know the experts say the rig has to be retuned "periodically" especially after some heavy weather sailing. I know that racers like Capt Stump will always tune the rig just before a race. But it seems the tension on my rig just seems to loosen up a tad just sitting on the mooring. I know metal expands and contracts with temperature. Will the rig tension loosen on a hot sunny day and contract and tighten on a cool cloudy one?? Anything else that would make the tension vary so much from day to day? I have the inexpensive loos gauges but I have to say that after tensioning the rig to about 10% I can put the gauge on the rig 5 times on the same day and I get the identical reading. So I think the gauges are okay. By the way, I'm not driving myself nuts over this. I sailed for years before I even heard of a loos gauge, where the mast was stepped at the beginning of the year and as long as the mast stayed up nobody ever thought about the tension on the rig. But I'm curious as to whether anyone else has noticed the week to week change in rig tension.

Warren Kaplan
Sine Qua Non
CD27
Oyster Bay Harbor, NY



Setsail728@aol.com

[Anthony P. Jeske]

Warren:
I can't speak for day to day changes, but it was always my practice not to tape the turnbuckles early in the season. I would tune after launch in the spring, then need to re-tune after a week or so. It seemed that subtle changes in the hull due to being in the water rather than in a cradle was the reason. Often after sailing in especially windy or rough water, I would need to retune.
Here is San Diego, where the boats aren't hauled for the winter, I still find I need to check the tune from time to time. I don't buy the expensive Rig-Rap tape, I just use white plastic tape from the hardware store.
Regards,
Tony Jeske
CD-25D #141
Breezy
San Diego




ajeske@ixpres.com

[Jim Westpfahl]

Regards, Warren;
I must say that last season (1st year we owned our 25D) there was little need to re-tune the standing rigging. Perhaps that is due to the fact that we did not drop the mast during the winter haul out. When re-dunked in spring I only had to adjust the turnbuckles once when she got wet and again during the first week of July. Nothing much changed thereafter.
This year seems quite different. I launched her third week of May and raised the mast. Tuning her seemed arduous, for some unknown reason. I just adjusted the rig on Saturday after a good 15 knot wind sail. I hope that will be the end of it. I intend to check her again after one or two more afternoons of sailing and will then tape her for the season. I suspect your concerns for the rig are no doubt the result of your "northshore" wishes to emulate those of us who prefer to sail on the windy/prefered side of the island.

Jim
Lively Lady CD25D '85
Lindenhurst, Long Island



JamesW7644@AOL.COM

[Rod Morris]

I'm no expert, but it seems to my you're not tuning just the rig. You're tuning the boat, too, since the rig fastens to it, and no matter how stiff it may be, it is fiberglass and will settle over time.
Rod Morris



remveyor@cs.com